


Murder Break

by VideoPlay5178



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M, there's spiders involved and horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 08:02:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7352725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VideoPlay5178/pseuds/VideoPlay5178
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray just wanted his day to be over, he was tired and not willing to put up with the bus breaking down late at night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Murder Break

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!
> 
> This was based heavily off of the game Dead by Daylight and Ryan actually playing the game. 
> 
> Want to read more of my stuff? Please check out my writing blog: http://vidparson.tumblr.com/

            The bell over the door rang as the door opened, two teenagers with heavy backpacks and baggy clothes stepping into the GameStop.

            “You seriously haven’t heard?”   
  
            “Nope, today in class was the first time.”

            “It’s been all over the news!”

            “I haven’t watched the news. You know that.”

            The girl sighed, shaking her head at the boy beside her. “Fine, whatever, I’m telling you now,” she said, heading over to the X-box games.

            Ray felt his eye twitch as the two teenagers started messing up the shelves of games he had just organized. “What else is there to tell from class?” the boy said, tossing a game he had grabbed back at the shelf. The case smacked the lip and tumbled to the ground.

            “Well, we talked about the five people missing but not where,” the girl said, glancing at the fallen game before looking at another case, “All of them were driving late at night near the woods between the north and south side.”

            “All of them?” the boy said, knocking another game to the floor.

            “Everyone. Someone found their cars on the side of the road without any gas in them,” the girl said, glancing at the games. She caught Ray’s eyes as he stared at them with a plastered smile on his face. Smiling sheepishly, she elbowed the boy and nodded toward the games.

            “And they can’t find them in the woods? Or anywhere in town? Everything is within walking distance from there,” the boy said, as he picked up the games and put them on the shelf backwards and sideways.

            “They’ve searched everywhere,” the girl said, looking over the games and grabbing another case, “like, the most recent guy left foot prints in the woods that just disappear in the middle of the clearing.”

            The boy snorted and they were silent as they skimmed the games and put them back on top of each other and backwards. Ray scowled, staring them down and wishing with all of his soul that his look could actually kill. Working retail sucked, so damn much.

            They eventually left without buying anything and after messing up two other displays. Gritting his teeth, Ray rounded the counter and started reorganizing the shelves, _again_. He was the only one working that day, his boss was sick and his coworker just didn’t show up. A ball of annoyance was curled in his stomach, had been there all day and just kept getting tighter.

            Now that the school had let out, there was a constant flow of kids coming into the store and making a mess of the shelves. A few put things back where they found them, but there were others tossing the cases around. One obnoxious brat knocked over their showcase filled with Overwatch game cards and then fled the store.

            Once the showcase was back in order, Ray slumped behind the counter and rubbed his eyes. Today was a particularly bad day. Especially when the night guy didn’t show up either so Ray was stuck in the store until closing.

            As he locked up, Ray wondered how he could get away with murdering _someone_ , at least. He felt like he deserved some sort of release. “At least the fucking bus is still running,” Ray mumbled, locking the front door.

            He waited at the bus stop for only a few minutes before a nearly completely empty bus rolled up to the stop. He climbed on and swiped his card. He sat in the first seat, a young man with a glasses similar to Ray’s sat in the seat behind him. Across from him was a young woman with dark skin and curly black hair pulled back with a clip.

            Near the back of the bus Ray caught a glance of another young woman with her hair braided in pigtails. He settled into his seat and looked out the window. He rested his forehead against the window and watched the fuzzy, dark shapes and flashes of dull light pass by.

            They paused at one other stop before they left the main street and headed for the south side where the cheaper residential areas were. They crossed a bridge and then they were in the woods between the north and south side.

            Ray vaguely remembered reading in the paper about the missing people. The girl from earlier that day’s voice echoed in his head. Shaking his head slightly, he sighed and sunk further down into his seat.

            Less than two minutes into the ride, the buss sputtered and groaned. “The hell?” the driver murmured. Ray scowled as the bus pulled over to the side of the road before stopping. “I just filled the tank!”  
            Ray felt his heart catch in his throat. He sat up slightly, fingers curling in the edge of his hoodie. “Fuck,” he breathed, glancing at the other riders then the driver.

            The driver poked and prodded at the wheel and dashboard. He turned the key a few times, the engine screeching every time. When the engine backfired, the other people on the bus started to sit up and edge toward the isle.

            “What’s going on?” the woman in the back of the bus called, looking over the seats.

            “Sorry folks,” the driver said slowly, turning and smiling sheepishly at them, “Something’s wrong with the bus. I’ll just step outside and call the company to send another to take ya’ll home.”

            Ray sighed and curled up in the corner of the seat. The other people did the same as the driver unbuckled and left the bus, pulling a flip phone from his pocket.

            After a few moments of silence, the man and woman closest to Ray started talking softly, leaning toward each other. Ray tuned them out, looking out the window. His eyes began to drag and a small thumping started just above his eyes.

            He closed his eyes and felt the tightness that hadn’t dissipated in his stomach wind just a bit tighter. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a figure at the edge of the woods across from them. Ray gasped and sat up, eyes wide.

            The man and woman stopped talking, eyes on his back as he watched the figure leave the woods and cross the street. He never saw the person’s face, couldn’t even make out what they were wearing, as they disappeared in front of the bus.

            “Was that a man?” the man behind Ray said, pressing his head against the window to try and see around to the front.

            “I think so,” Ray mumbled, standing and looking out of the windshield. His eyes widened as he watched the dark figure grab the driver, who was still on the phone, by the neck and took him to the ground.

            “Oh god,” the woman gasped, hands flying to her lips, eyes wide.

            “What’s happening?” the woman in the back said, standing slowly.

            Ray edged out of his seat, backing up slightly. “Come on,” he whispered, turning and rushing toward the emergency exit.

            The man tugged the woman who was frozen in place. “Come on Claudette,” he said softly as the woman at the back of the bus helped him open the emergency exist. Once the door was open he heard the crush and slap of something hard and wet. Cringing, he sat on the edge of the door and dropped to the ground.

            He helped the woman down. She turned and helped Claudette, who was still in shock, down. The man jumped down himself, grunting.

            All four of them froze, but there was no sound. Taking a deep breath, Ray waved for everyone to follow him. He turned to head down the road back toward the north side when heavy boots echoed on the bus stairs.

            Claudette screamed and Ray turned to look on the bus. The figure stood at the front of the bus. Everyone was frozen as the soft patter and drop of blood hit the floor of the bus and echoed slightly.

            The woman screamed again and the figure began to move. “Grab her!” Ray yelled at the man before grabbing the other woman’s hand and pulling her into a run.

            The man picked up Claudette and ran after them as the figure started to run. Before they could get far, there was the sound of heavy church bells and then the figure was directly in front of them, black smoke rolling off of his clothes. Ray scrambled to a stop, eyes widening as the figure came into focus.

            The man was at least a head taller than Ray and had broad shoulders. His jeans were tattered, torn, and stained with blood. He wore a black, leather jacket that had rusted metal points on the shoulders. A black skull mask was over the man’s head, the mask was cracked and torn, showing off dried and torn skin just underneath. Red eyes glowed behind the mask.

            The woman Ray was leading screamed as the man raised his hand. Ray yanked the woman away from the monster and into the woods, the other two trailing after them. Ray glanced back to see the killer watching them before disappearing with the sound of more distant church bells.

            Ray looked forward again and kept running, dodging around trees. He couldn’t see his feet as a thick, white fog rolled in. His heart was beating hard in his ears as the fog got higher and thicker.

            He gasped and stopped short as a wall suddenly appeared in front of him. The man slammed right into him, making him hit the wall face first anyway. “Ah, fuck!” Ray snapped, pushing off of the wall.

            “Shit, sorry man, I couldn’t see,” the man said, setting Claudette down gently. She was sobbing slightly.

            “It’s fine,” Ray said, rubbing his nose, “Where the fuck are we?”

            “The fog is clearing,” the other woman said, gently rubbing Claudette’s back as she sobbed.

            Ray frowned and looked around them as the fog dissipated. His eyes widened as they were suddenly no longer in the middle of the woods. They were in a small farm, a high wall wrapping around them.

            “What the fuck,” he breathed, as he peaked around the rotting farmhouse, “Where the fuck is this?”  
            “I gotta get home,” Claudette sobbed as the woman hugged her gently, “Timmy’s there, all alone. Dwight-“

            “I know,” the man said, taking Claudette’s hand, “We’ll get out of here.”

            “Where the fuck are we?” Ray hissed, looking around. The farmhouse looming over them was made out of corrugated, rusted, blue metal. There were massive holes punched in the walls, the wooden frame rotting.

            “There shouldn’t be anything out here but woods,” the man hissed, hugging Claudette to him.

            The woman suddenly froze and looked up at them with wide eyes. “We’re going to die.”

            Claudette gasped and cried harder. “Great, thanks for that,” Ray sighed, looking around again.

            The woman winced and tugged at the peach jacket she was wearing. “Sorry,” she said softly, frowning around them.

            They all tensed when they could suddenly hear a heartbeat too loud to be their own hearts. They glanced nervously at each other accept for Claudette who was still sobbing. “I don’t see anything,” Dwight whispered as Claudette huddled closer him.

            Ray heard church bells in the distance and crouched. “Shh!” he hissed, looking around them, “You, go with her.” He pushed Dwight and Claudette who was muffling her sobs with her hand.

            Dwight hesitantly nodded and took pulled Claudette and disappeared into the fog. “What are we doing?” the woman whispered to him.

            “I donno yet,” Ray whispered back, staying low. He still heard a heartbeat as he peaked around the side of the house. He saw the dark figure just around the corner at the other end of the house and quickly hide around the wall again.

            The heartbeat picked up speed as he swallowed hard and waved for the woman to follow him. They edged through the corn fields, eyes peeled for the figure. Eventually the heartbeat stopped plaguing them as they walked through the fields.

            They eventually found the towering wall that had sharp, rusting bars at the top. They followed the wall occasionally the splintered wood and chipped cement to a large metal door. “It’s locked,” Ray whispered as he flipped the large switch next to the door.

            “No, out of power,” the woman said, pointing to the lights on the panel above the switch.

            “How the fuck did we get in here if the door is locked?” Ray said, lightly taping the door. The metal was smooth and bright in the mute light.

            “Maybe there’s another entrance?” the woman said, looking around them nervously.

            Ray sighed and nodded. They continued to follow the wall. They came to another door that was also out of power and then returned to the first door. “Okay, again, how the fuck did we get in here?” Ray whispered to the woman as they stood in front of the door.

            “Let’s focus on getting out,” the woman said, peaking around a wall a few feet from the door. They ran into a few different wall mazes around the compound at they followed the wall. They hadn’t entered any of them, especially when they saw a giant, rusty meat hook in the center of a bunch of walls. “Oh hey, a generator!”

            Ray frowned and trailed after the woman as she rushed over to the red generator. She kneeled down and started tinkering with the loose wires. “Can you fix it?”  
            “Yeah, it’s an easy fix. Easier than a car engine anyway,” the woman said as she connected two wires, “Maybe this will power the door.”

            Ray nodded and kept watch as the woman worked. He took deep, calming breathes to try and stay calm. He jumped when the light hanging above the generator suddenly burst to life with a snap. He held his chest and looked at the woman with wide eyes. She grinned back at him.

            “Let’s check the door,” she said, walking around the wall and studying the lever. She frowned when none of the lights on the panel were lit. “I think we need more power.”

            “I don’t see any more generators,” Ray said, running his hand through his hair.

            “There has to be more,” the woman mumbled frowning up at the door.

            Ray opened his mouth but froze when the heartbeat began again. He and the woman shared wide-eyed looks before rushing along the wall and diving into the brush. Despite their heart rates picking up, they kept moving slowly and carefully.

            Ray grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled her into the brush as heavy steps thumped behind them. He held his breath, looking through the leaves as the man in the skull mask passed, looking around for them. He heard the man mumble, but couldn’t make out what he was saying.

            As the killer passed and the heartbeat quieted, Ray finally let out a breath. “Okay, I-I’m going to trail that crazy fucker,” Ray said quietly, turning toward the woman, “You go try and find more generators and the other two. I’ll warn you if he gets too close.”

            “Are you sure?” the woman said, shifting toward the edge of the bush, “We might have a better chance together.”

            “That’s why I’m following the psycho killer around so we have a chance,” Ray said, waving her along, “Be careful.”

            The woman nodded and edged out of the bush before darting away from where the killer had gone. Ray creeped out in the direction the skull mask went. Soon enough, he started to hear the heartbeat again. He followed the sound until he found the masked man searching around one of the wood mazes.

            He peaked over one of the lower walls, watching the man look in a rusted, red metal cabinet. The man growled as he found the cabinet empty, slamming the doors closed.

            “God damnit,” the man hissed, storming away from the cabinet, “Why is this so damn hard?”

            Ray’s brow furrowed as he cautiously tailed after the madman. He listened to the man’s grumbles and sighs. He had to keep himself from laughing when the monster started smacking stalks of corn and referencing _The Children of the Corn_.

            “Cause nothing bad happens in the corn,” the mad man snapped, hitting a stalk that bounced back and nearly hit him in the face.

            Ray pressed his lips together as the man stared at the corn, probably in shock, before patting the stalk. “Okay geez, I’m sorry,” he said before walking away from the corn.

            Ray puffed out a sigh, trying to keep from laughing as he trailed after him. They both jumped when there was a loud backfire in the distance. “There they are!” the man said, running in the direction of a flash of light and another bang.

            Ray rushed after him, staying behind bales of hay and walls. “You idiot!” he heard the woman shouted, making him wince, “I told you not to touch anything!”

            “I’m sorry, alright?” Dwight snapped back as Claudette whimpered, “I didn’t think that would happen!”

            Ray watched the monster rush toward the three and stood. “Run!” he shouted, tensing when the monster’s head snapped back and looked right at him.

            He started to back away as the monster froze. Claudette and Dwight suddenly appeared around the corner as Ray saw the woman rush away in the other direction. The monster’s head snapped toward them as they froze and looked up at him in horror.

            Claudette screamed as Ray ducked down and rushed around the other side of the tractor he was next to. He heard Dwight and Claudette run off as heavier steps raced after them. Scowling, he stood and ran around the other side of the wall maze.

            A scream rose into the air as he rounded a corner and looked over a low wall. Claudette was stumbling away from the killer, holding her side, as he raised the bloody axe. Dwight was racing away as the axe came down on her shoulder.

            Ray’s eyes widened as she went down and the killer picked her up. Breathing hard, he crouched down and leaned against the wall for a moment. He closed his eyes and listened to the killer’s steps and Claudette’s whimpers about someone named Timmy. Swallowing hard, he opened his eyes again and trailed after them. He couldn’t do anything to help but maybe he could do something once the killer set her down.

            He followed them all the way to one of the hooks. He watched as the killer raised Claudette and impaled her shoulder on the hook. She screamed and struggle as the killer stepped back and watched as strange, spiderlike legs started appearing around Claudette, extending from the pole the hook was attached to.

            The monster watched her for a few moments, fists clenched tightly, before walking away. Ray, taking deep, harsh breathes, raced over and grabbed Claudette by her hips. With a bit of a struggle and a lot of crying on Claudette’s end, he lifted her off of the hook and watched the spider legs disappear in an instant.

            Claudette whimpered and sobbed harsh breathes as Ray tried to help her hobble away. She was bleeding pretty badly from the shallow slashes in her side and shoulder from the axe and the hole in her other shoulder. Ray heard heavy footsteps then church bells and tried to get Claudette to run.

            Claudette screamed when the solid wall of muscle that was the killer appeared in front of them. Cursing, he pushed her away and dodged around the man. Claudette hobbled away for her life while Ray felt like his feet were turning into blocks of lead.

            He jumped over a low wall, wincing when he heard the axe hit the wood with a sickening crack. He kept up a slow sprint, looking over his shoulder at the killer lumbering after him. Breathing hard, he dodged into a wall maze, yanking a pallet leaning up against the wall to lay across the entrance.

            He heard the killer grunt and kick the pallet as he dodged out of the maze and crouched down behind a bale of hay. He watched the killer race out of the maze and look around. Ray held his breath and watched him search around, hitting stalks of corn and looking around walls.

            “Oh come on!” the murderer groaned, throwing his arms up, “Where the fuck did he go? He was right here!”

            Ray let out his breath slowly, shaking slightly. The killer looked around one more time before stalking away. Closing his eyes, Ray took another deep breath before edging out from behind the bales and following the monster again.

            “This is what happens when you’re a friendly murderer,” the killer grumbled to himself as he stalked through the corn, “If I was less friendly there would be more murder.”

            Ray nearly sorted, heart still racing. This had to be the dorkest murderer in the world. He continued trailing after him, moving a bit faster to keep up when the killer started running toward a sudden bright light turning on.

            When they got to the generator there was no one there. “God damnit!” the killer snarled, kicking the generator, “This shit is disheartening.”

            Ray peaked around the wall of the decrepit building. The killer raised his hand to try and run his fingers through hair that wasn’t there. When his gloved hand hit mask he tensed then let his arm drop to his side.

            Sighing, the monster turned to walk back out the door Ray was still peeking through. They both froze as their eyes met. “Hey!” the killer said as Ray bolted from the door.

            Ray dived into a thick patch of corn and held his breath. He didn’t see the monster anywhere, relaxing slightly. Before he could creep out, church bells rang right in his ear and large hands had him by the back of his purple hoodie.

            “Woah! Hey!” Ray gasped, flailing as he was thrown over a strong shoulder, “I’m just corn!”

            The monster froze before walking forward, holding Ray tighter as he struggled. Ray’s mind was scrambling, as he kicked his legs and hit the monster’s back. “Uh, _Children of the Corn_ , right? Shit movie! Corn isn’t even scary.”

            The monster’s shoulder shook slightly as Ray couldn’t believe the shit coming out of his mouth. Apparently he was the type of person to try and talk his way out of bad situations. “Ever see _The Langoliers_? With the shitty meatballs with mouths? The shitty animation was the scariest thing in that, right?”  
            He heard small, breathy laughs coming from the killer. If he could laugh the man into letting him go, he’d kiss the bastard. “Funny, but I’m not letting you go,” the killer said as he hefted Ray from his shoulders and held his arms tight to his sides, “Sadly.”

            Ray’s eyes darted around as the killer raised him up, he felt the tip of a hook start to dig into his back. “WAIT!” He shouted just as the roar of another generator turning on echoed in the compound.

            The killer actually paused, head tilting to the side. “What?” he said, arms barely shaking as he held Ray up.

            “You are fucking ripped,” Ray said, wishing his brain would come up with something better to just blurt, “I mean, I know I’m like, ten pounds soaking wet, but seriously man.”

            The killer stared at him for a moment before laughing lightly. “You are the most talkative person I have ever had to hook.”

            “Does the hooking thing really need to happen?” Ray said, fingers curling into his jacket, “I mean, come on, we both watch horror movies, there’s a connection here!”

            The man laughed, the hook no longer pressing as hard into his back. “Have you seen _The Tommyknockers_ as well?”

            Ray sorted and smiled despite his heart beating right out of his chest. “That shit is more torture than that hook. I admire Stephen King, I really do, but the man is insane.”

            “And obsessed with Maine,” the killer nodded, lowering Ray slightly.

            “Yeah, what’s with that? I mean, Maine is a weird ass place, but not that scary,” Ray said, feeling the tips of his shoes touch the ground.

            The killer nodded, nearly setting Ray down completely before freezing and picking him up again. “Nice distraction,” he said, pressing Ray’s back against the hook again,

            “Wait, wait, wait!” Ray said, raising his hands as much as he could, “We were having a moment man!”

            Ray felt himself breathe harder and harder the longer the monster stared at him with his freaky red eyes. They heard another generator roar to life and the killer snapped his head to look behind them. “Shit! They only need one more.”

            Ray squeezed his eyes shut as the man looked back to him. He waited for the pain of the rusted hook bursting through his shoulder. Instead, his feet touched the ground and the murder’s hands left him with the sound of church bells.

            Ray cracked an eye open and slumped as he saw nothing in front of him. On shaking legs, he stumbled away from the hook and toward one of the doorways. He didn’t hear anything the entire walk until another generator burst to life.

            He winced at the thud then bright light coming from both doors. Still shaking and knees knocking, he walked through the corner toward the nearest door. When he got there, both women and Dwight were already there.

            The woman who had probably fixed all of the generators was holding the lever down as the door opened painstakingly slow. “Holy shit, you’re alive,” Dwight said, smiling at Ray as he held Claudette up. She was still bleeding badly, despite the woman’s torn jacket wrapped around her. “We thought that, _thing_ , got you.”

            “He’s, a person,” Ray mumbled, wobbling toward them, “And probably heading here.”

            “We just need a few more minutes,” the woman said, staring hard at the door.

            “That’s all I’ll need,” the killer’s deep and surprisingly smooth voice echoed around them before church bells rang in their ears.

            Claudette screamed as the monster appeared in front of Ray with his back towards him and arms raised. Dark smoke filled his hands for a moment before his axe appeared in his hands. Dwight bolted into the corn with Claudette as the other woman ducked as the axe came down on the panel and bounced off without leaving so much as a scratch.

            The woman ran past Ray who was frozen when the killer’s eyes snapped back and met his. They stared at each other for a moment before the murderer ran off after Dwight and Claudette.

            Ray’s knees shook until he dropped to the ground, holding his head. He breathed hard, jumping when a gentle hand landed on his shoulder. His head snapped up and saw the woman frowning down at him. “Why didn’t he go after you?”

            “I-I donno, he let me go before because I talked to him,” Ray breathed, drooping slightly, “I-I guess he likes me?”

            “Lucky you,” the woman snorted, straightening and heading for the lever and pulled the bar back down again.

            Just as the door shuttered and began to move again, Dwight and Claudette screamed in the distance. Ray’s head snapped back as the woman tensed. “We have to help them,” she said, letting go of the lever and rushing off into the dark, “Stay with the door and make sure it opens!”

            Ray nodded dumbly, getting to his trembling feet. He wondered over and yanked the bar down. He squeezed his eyes shut when he heard yet another scream rise into the air when the door was almost completely open.

            The heartbeat pounded at his skull as the door locked into the wall, fully open. Fingers shaking, he let go of the lever and walked over to the doorway. As he passed the threshold, church bells surrounded him. As he headed towards the dark woods, he looked over his shoulder at the killer.

            The mad man raised a hand and gave him an awkward wave before the entire compound disappeared. Ray was left blinked against the harsh light of the rising sun.

 

* * *

 

            He emerged from the woods just as the police car arrived at the empty bus. He raised his hands, breathing hard, as the officers raised their guns and shouted at him. Once he was in cuffs, they walked him past the front of the bus which was splattered with blood.

            They shoved him into the back of their car and he spent most of the morning in an interrogation room telling officer after FBI agent what happened that night. The bus ran out of gas, the driver stepped out to call the bus company, something appeared from the woods and he and the other passengers escaped out the back of the bus when the thing went after the driver. The thing caught them because one of the other passengers screamed. They ran into the woods and then it was morning.

            “You have absolutely no memory of what happened after running into the woods?” the agent said, frowning at Ray from across the silver table between them. The man was from the FBI wearing a black suit with a colorful tie. He had introduced himself when he came in as Agent Baxton.

            Ray shook his head, still trembling slightly. “No, I-there’s nothing,” he said softly, rubbing his face, “I feel like I dreamed about some compound and, it was like a game.”

            “What was?” Agent Baxton pressed, leaning over the table. He studied Ray’s face and his shaking fingers as his hands rested against the table.

            Ray stared at him for a long moment, lips pressed into a tight line and brow furrowed. “Like, one of the girls on the bus was fixing generators while I followed that, person? I guess. I donno,” he said carefully, dropping his hands into his lap to play with the edge of his hoodie, “I don’t know what the other two were doing, but we had to turn on five generators and then these doors would open. It was like a game.”

            Agent Baxton sighed and leaned back against the chair. His notepad laid in front of him, pencil limp between his fingers. After a moment, he scribbled something down in neat cursive then stood. “I’m sorry that we’ve kept you here so long, Mr. Narvaez. Go home, get some rest.”

            Ray nodded and followed Agent Baxton out of the room. One of the officers that picked Ray up called him an Uber and gave him a hug. “You look like you could use one,” she mumbled before giving him one last squeeze and letting go. 

            “Thanks,” Ray said, smiling tiredly at the officer. She had long, bright pink hair and a nice smile.

            “Call us if you remember anything,” she said before shooing him out of the station.

            The Uber arrived before too long and took him home. Ray collapsed on his couch before pulling his phone out of his pocket. His boss wasn’t happy that he hadn’t come in and wouldn’t be coming in for the rest of the day, but he didn’t complain after Ray told him why he was missing work.

            “You’re lucky, Ray,” his boss said, “Get some rest, see you tomorrow?”

            “Yeah, sure,” Ray mumbled, still holding his phone to his ear as his boss hung up and the call ended.

            He tossed his phone onto his coffee table, throwing his arm over his eyes as he closed them. He could see every detail, unsure if he really had been dreaming or if any of what happened was real.

            There were people missing and he knew they were dead, that was real. He knew that for certain. Yet, the compound, the killer himself. Everything seemed like a very clever video game to him.

            With a shaky sigh, he forced himself to get up and shuffle to his bedroom. Dropping face-first onto the bed, he kicked his shoes off. Curling into a ball, he fell asleep quickly.

            He dreamed about poorly animated meatballs with teeth and spider legs growing out of a hook. He saw each of the passengers on the bus being hooked and stabbed by the spider legs. He watched their bodies get taken to the sky in a ball of the legs.

            Loud church bells startled him as the killer appeared in front of him. The mask smiled awkwardly as the mad man waved at him. “Be careful,” echoed around him as he squeezed his eyes shut.

            When he opened them again, he was in his room, breathing hard. The moon was streaming in from the window, making square patters on his floor. Ray stared at the window for a long moment before hesitantly getting out of bed and changing into clean clothes.

             He wandered around his apartment a faint thought nagging at him. He ate and listened to the news about the others on the bus. He watched as they showed his picture and quoted some of what he told the police.

            His eyes locked onto the map showing the road where the disappearances were happening. He stared at the woods, searching for any sign of the relatively large compound.

            The nagging thought wanted to go find the place again, prove to himself that he hadn’t just dreamed everything. Closing his eyes, he shook his head and changed the channel.

            In the morning he went to work and only half listened to his coworker, Meg, telling him how lucky he was. He fixed the shelves after one particularly messy kid had moved onto another section of the store.

            His shoulders bunched up near his ears when he heard a horrible crack that reminded him of a bloodied axe slamming into wood. Holding onto the shelf and breathing slowly, he turned and stared at the kid laughing at the pieces of a shattered case in his hands.

            “Did you break that?” Meg said, rounding the counter and walking over to the kid.

            “It’s a shitty game,” the kid snorted, tossing the case onto the floor, “You weren’t going to sell it.”

            “Well now we’re selling it to you,” Meg snapped at the kid, picking the destroyed case and DVD up.

            “What? No fucking way!” the kid scowled, backing away, “I don’t want it!”  
            “Ever heard of break it, you buy it? That applies here,” Meg said, holding a hand out, “You’re lucky this is used, it’s only fifteen bucks.”

            “I’m not paying for it!” the kid snapped and Ray stopped paying attention.

            Closing his eyes, he looked at the floor and slowly relaxed. His eyes snapped open again when he heard a slap. His knuckles turned white as he looked over at Meg and the kid. She was holding her cheek that was rapidly turning red while the kid was turning on his heels.

            “Hey!” Ray snarled, diving for the kid. He managed to grab the back of his shirt and drag him to the back of the store. As Meg called their boss with righteous fury in her eyes, he kept the kid locked in the back.

            He stood in front of the only door out of the room, watching the kid rant and rave. “Hey! Wait, you’re that guy that survived the woods,” the kid said suddenly, hands still raise mid-rant. He stood directly across from Ray, brow furrowing as he studied Ray’s tired face.

            “Yep,” Ray sighed, feeling a headache forming behind his eyes, “Now, please, shut up.”

            “How’d you do it?” the kid said, coming closer, “Was it a murderer? How come you’re not dead?”

            Ray sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “No one has taught you how to be a decent human being, have they?” he said, sighing when the kid scowled, “I don’t know, I don’t remember anything that happened.”

            “You have to remember,” the kid snorted, folding his arms, “You don’t just forget shit like that.”

            Ray sighed and leaned back against the door, listening to see if he could hear his boss’s voice. Nothing but the rumble of the air conditioning. Damn.

            “Come on! Tell me!” the kid huffed, pouting at Ray.

            “How old are you?” Ray said, narrowing his eyes at the kid, “I don’t think you could handle the shit I’ve seen.”       

            “Yeah right,” the kid snorted, rolling his eyes, “I play horror games!”

            Pursing his lips, Ray slowly smiled. “Alright kid, you really want to know?”           

            “Fuck yeah!” the kid said, standing up straighter and grinning.

            “Well, you see, there was this man that was chasing us down. He had an axe and a skull mask,” Ray said casually, folding his arms, “He chased us through the woods and caught us one by one.”

            The kid leaned closer, eyes wide as he looked up at Ray. “Yeah, what did he do?”

            “I didn’t see much,” Ray said, shaking his head and sighing, “But, I did watch him put one of the woman I was with on this big rusty hook.”

            “Woah, what he’d do then?” The kid said, eyes boring into Ray’s as his face started to pale around the edges.

            “She was screaming and struggling. That monster watched her struggle then pulled out a knife,” Ray said, letting his eyes glaze over as he struggled not to smile, “I could only watch so much of him skinning her alive as she screamed and screamed.”

            The kid’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he started to shake. His hands clutched his stomach as he turned pasty white. “He skinned her alive? Y-you actually saw that?”

            “Yeah, he skinned them all alive. I don’t know what else happened, I was too busy running for my life,” Ray sighed, looking the kid right in the eyes, “But, of course, I don’t know if I dreamed that or not. I keep thinking about it. Dreaming it, but I don’t actually know.”          

            “Y-you don’t?” the kid said, flinching at the weakness in his own voice. He stood up straighter, pressing his lips into a thin line and shoulders tight.

            “No idea,” Ray said, refusing to let himself grin but then decided he didn’t really care, “Might have made me a little loopy, honestly.”

            The kid’s eyes nearly rolled right out of his head as he stared at Ray’s crooked smile. He took a hesitant step back, knees knocking together. “Now, could you please sit and wait for my boss to get here?” Ray said, frowning once again.

            The kid was in one of the chairs around the small table faster than Ray thought he could move. Ray withheld a smirk as he broadly looked around the room. Boxes of papers and games lined the walls. A small, pitiful kitchen comprised of only a sink and a fridge rested in the corner opposite to the door. The table the kid sat at wasn’t big enough for more than one person, despite the four chairs squished around the rickety, wooden table pushed into the corner across from the door.

            When his boss finally arrived, the kid looked a bit sick. Meg gave him a confused look when he just smirked. The kid paid for the game and nearly sprinted out of the store. “Guilt must have gotten to him,” his boss said with a smile and nod.

            Ray and Meg rolled their eyes before getting back to work. They waited for the night guy to show up later that day. About thirty minutes after the guy was supposed to arrive, his boss turned to look at them.

            “Ray? Do you mind doing the night shift again?” his boss said when Meg shook her head.

            “Seriously?” Ray scowled, looking between them as they gave him sheepish looks, “You’re only lucky once!”

            “You’ll be fine, the disappearances only happen on Wednesdays,” Meg said with her best customer smile and patting his shoulders.

            “The first one happened on a Friday and no one knows when the others happened because the cars sat there for a while,” Ray said, glaring at her.

            “Do it or you’re fired,” his boss sighed, walking toward the door, “You’ll be fine.”

            “I’m sorry,” Meg whispered before rushing to gather her things from the back. She left a few minutes later with an apologetic smile and wave.

            Ray raised his arms, figures bent and tense as he imagined strangling them. Dropping his arms and sighing, he rubbed his eyes and stalked toward the counter, grumbling under his breath.

            His hands started to shake when he was finally able to lock up the store. He waited at the bus stop for a little over an hour before the bus finally arrived. The driver scowled at him as he begrudgingly let him pay and sit in the seat directly behind him.

            “Great,” he heard the driver murmur, “Now I’m definitely dying.”

            Rolling his eyes with a scowl, Ray hugged himself and looked out the window. When they got to the part of the road where the bus stopped before, there wasn’t even a sputter. He watched the trees pass, squinting to see if he could see the killer in the woods.

            He got home without any problems, not even a creepy feeling. He stood just inside his apartment leaning back against the door. His feet itched to go back out and walk along the road until he found the compound.

            Shaking his head, he pushed off of the door and went to bed without diner, he wasn’t too hungry.

            In the morning, he woke more tired than he went to bed. He shuffled through his morning routine and boarded the bus like usual. When he got to work, he learned that the night guy had been fired and that he would be working the later shift until they hired a new guy.

            Ray felt his eye twitch as he left the break room after arguing with his boss. Apparently nearly getting murdered once didn’t mean anything to the fucker.

            Every night he boarded the bus late night and felt nervous every time they drove past the spot on the road. He never saw the killer in the tree line and the bus never broke down. Each time he got to one side or the other, he felt a pull to go back and explore the woods.

            One night, as they passed that same spot again, he scowled and slammed his hand against the button. The bus driver, the same one from the second night he had taken the bus, stopped and stared at him with wide, confused eyes.

            “Are you insane?!” he said, opening the door anyway. Ray didn’t say anything, he just jogged down the stairs. “Wait!”

            Ray scowled back at the man then tensed when he heard church bells. The drive gasped and scrambled for the lever for the door.

            A hand gently pulled Ray out of the way as a bloody axe was shoved between the doors. The driver tried to start the bus as the killer brushed past Ray and stepped up to the door and knocked on the glass. “Do you want to hear about your savor the hook?” the killer mumbled under his breath as Ray stumbled back and tripped over his feet, landing hard on his ass.

            He watched, barely breathing, as the killer pried the door open and stepped onto the bus. The driver screamed and shouted as the doors snapped closed. Ray flinched when blood splattered the clear bus doors, the driver’s muffled shouts becoming gargled then quiet. The killer emerged from the bus, dragging the driver behind him by the collar of his shirt. The axe disappeared into a puff of smoke as he looked down at Ray.

            Ray’s eyes were locked on the driver. Blood gushed out of his throat, mouth stuck open and his eyes glass. “You’re not very lucky.”

            Ray’s eyes snapped up to the killer’s mask, his feet scraping against the ground, trying to backpedal. “Did your boss give you the night shift or something? After what happened?” the killer said, studying Ray.

            “Y-yeah,” Ray croaked, fingers curling in the debris coating the sides of the road, “Fucker doesn’t even care.”

            The killer sighed and shook his head. He turned away and started into the woods, dragging the driver after him. “W-wait!” Ray said, scrambling to his feet.

            The killer paused and looked back at Ray. “I’m letting you go?”

             “Why?” Ray blurted, hands balled around the dirt he had picked up. He should run, his rapid heartbeat was begging him to.

            The killer shrugged and turned away. “You, well, you talked to me,” he said before disappearing with the body to the sound of church bells.

            Ray stared off into the woods, letting the dirt slip through his fingers before he hesitantly trailed after the killer. Was everything that happened actually real? The compound, would he find it again?

            Before long, the fog became dense and when the white fluff cleared he was in a corn field. Shaking, he slowly made his way through the compound. Some birds took off into the sky and he jumped, stumbling back.

            His back hit something solid and he yelped, turning as he tried to run. He tripped over his feet and landed on his ass, looking up at the killer. “What are you doing here?” he hissed, red eyes trained on Ray.

            “I-I. It’s all real,” Ray breathed, looking up at the killer with wide eyes.

            “Of course it’s fucking real,” the mad man snapped before sighing and rubbing his hands over the mask, “Look, you’re making not killing you really hard.”

            Ray didn’t hear the heartbeat or feel nearly as scared as he should be. Instead, he laughed. He feel back, arms spread out wide as he looked up at the black abbess of a sky. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”

            “Good question,” the killer snorted, taking a hesitant step forward, “You-you don’t actually _want_ me to kill you, do you?”

            “God no,” Ray said, sitting up suddenly, “I just, something has been nagging me to come back here.”

            The man stared down at Ray, shoulders tight and fingers stiff. “Ah,” he said carefully before shaking his head, “I guess, that could make sense.”

            “What?” Ray said, frowning up at the mad man.

            “Well, no one has ever escaped here before,” the killer said, carefully sitting down and crossing his legs, “This place is designed to lure people here no matter what direction they go, like they’re drawn to it.”

            Ray frowned and pulled his knees up, resting his arms on them. “What is this place?”

            The killer looked at Ray’s checkered vans and sighed. “Honestly? It’s not a place, it’s a living thing,” he said, laughing lightly.

            Ray blinked slowly at the man then shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, sure, I’ll go with it.”

            The killer laughed and looked up at Ray again, red eyes bouncing between his own brown ones. “You’re fucking weird.”

            Ray shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “It’s saving my life so I’ll take it.”

            The killer laughed, a warm, joyful noise. “Fair enough,” he said, relaxing. He tilted his head at Ray, almost like he was a dog.

            “So, this place is a living thing, how?” Ray said, smiling slightly. Pleasant conversation with a mad man. Best thing to happen that day honestly.

            The killer didn’t say anything for a long moment. He studied Ray up and down before shaking his head. “Sorry, you’ve got to be a level five friend before you unlock my tragic backstory.”

            Ray snorted then laughed, head tilting back. “Okay, fucking fair,” he said as he calmed down and looked at the mad man again, “It must be pretty fucking tragic.”

            The killer laughed lightly, shaking his head. “Not really.”

            Ray watched the man’s shoulders slump and his glowing red eyes close behind the mask. Frowning, he licking his lips before forcing a smile. “What other shitty horror movies have you watched?”

            The killer’s shoulders shook as he looked up, eyes bright again. “Tons, it’s a hobby. Just like gaming.”     

            “Gaming, you say?” Ray said, raising an eyebrow, “I was under the impression that psycho killers only killed.”

            “Ah, now that’s where you’re wrong,” the man said, shaking his head and playing with the frayed edges of a hole in his jeans, “I do, in fact have a life outside of this place.”     

            Ray laughed lightly, pressing his lips together for a moment. “So, play Overwatch?”  
            Ray never pegged a murderer to be fun to talk to. However, this killer was well versed in nerdy references and games. Ray felt himself calm as they talked, despite the creepy ass tree behind the killer that had dead animals hanging from the branches by their necks.

            “Oh, it’s almost morning,” the killer said, grunting as he stood, “You should go and get home before the sun comes up.”

            “Ah,” Ray said, pouting slightly, “Fine.”

            The killer laughed and offered Ray his hands. “I’m glad I was good company.”

            “Fuck yeah, man,” Ray laughed, reaching for the man’s hands, “I haven’t talk to someone for this long willingly in fucking ages.”

            The man froze as Ray took his hand and made a face at the squishy moist feeling under his hand. He chose to think the feeling was hand sanitizer and looked up at the killer expectantly. “Really?” the killer said after a moment of looking at Ray with a dazed look.

            “Yes?” Ray said, letting the man pull him to his feet.

            The mad man blinked at him for a long moment laughing lightly. “Come on, I’ll let you out.”

            Ray followed the killer through the compound, scowling when he flipped a switch hidden behind the panel holding the lever. When the light flicked on, he huffed and glared at the killer. “It was that easy?”

            “Yep!” the man said cheerfully turning toward Ray.

            Rolling his eyes, Ray held his hand out to the man, nearly gagging at the blood he saw coating his hand. “Oh shit,” the man said, scowling down at his own red tinted, black gloves, “Sorry.”

            “It’s, fine,” Ray said, wiping his hand on the wall as the killer pulled the lever and the door opened. Once his hand was mostly clean he held his hand out again. “I’m Ray.”

            The man leaned back slightly, eyes widening. “I-I’m Ryan,” he said softly after a moment, reaching for Ray’s hand. He paused just before grabbing his hand. “I probably shouldn’t get blood on you again.”

            Ray blinked at Ryan for a moment before laughing and letting his hand drop to his side. “Good idea, Ryan-the-normal-name-guy,” he said, looking at the door.

            Ryan snorted and rolled his eyes before turning to look at the door as well, standing stiff next to Ray. Watching the door opened, a thought hit Ray and he grinned. “Level up!” he said, raising his hands in the air and doing jazz hands.

            Ryan jumped and looked at Ray with wide eyes. “What?” he said, as Ray lowered his arms and grinned up at him.

            “You told me your name, that’s at least one level up from when I got here,” Ray said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, “Four more and I unlock your tragic backstory.

            Ryan stared at Ray for a long moment before laughing hard. He folded in half, holding his stomach. Ray grinned, liking the sound of Ryan laughing.

            “What the hell is wrong with you?” Ryan said, as he looked up at Ray still laughing slightly.

            “I donno but its keeping me alive,” Ray said, snapping his fingers as he gave Ryan a double thumbs up and an opened mouth smile.

            Ryan snorted and laughed again, barely able to watch Ray leave because he kept his thumbs and smile up. Ray laughed lightly, letting his hands drop to his sides as Ryan disappeared into the fog.

            Grinning to himself, he walked through the forest until the fog completely disappeared and he saw the edge of the road. He stepped out, not next to the bus, but on the sidewalk across the street from his apartment building. Looking up at the building, his jaw dropped. He spun around and saw nothing but familiar houses and streets behind him, not even a wisp of fog or the rustle of trees.

            Blinking slowly, he closed his mouth and shook his head. He crossed the street and slept for the three hours he had left before work.

            Around lunch, Agent Baxton and a woman entered the store and questioned him about the bus found along the side of the road that morning with blood coating the door. Apparently they looked into the logs to see who was the last person with a bus card to ride the bus.

            “Shit, he died?” Ray said, frowning at the officers. They were in the break room, sitting around the tiny table.

            “Well, from the amount of blood, yes,” Agent Baxton sighed, tapping his notepad against the table, “We don’t know where the body is.”

            “Shit, fuck,” Ray breathed, staring down at the table with wide eyes, “I-I was on that bus, he dropped me off and I didn’t really think about it after that.”

            “So you got home alright?” Agent Baxton said, narrowing his eyes at Ray for a moment.

            “Yeah,” Ray said distantly, eyes glazing over, “Dropped me off right at the corner, like always.”

            Agent Baxton sighed and scribbled something down as the woman sitting next to him studied Ray for a moment. “You survived once and was almost caught again, you’re a very lucky man,” she said, smiling gently at Ray when he looked up at her.

            “Yeah, fuck,” Ray sighed, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

            “Maybe you shouldn’t be doing the night shift,” she said, gently squeezing Ray’s shoulder.

            “I wish I could,” Ray sighed, letting his hands drop into his lap, “But I need this job and if I don’t do what the boss says I’m fired.”

            The woman nodded as Agent Baxton frowned. “When did you start doing the later shift?” he said, the dull tip of the round pencil resting against the pad.

            “The first night was the one I lived through,” Ray said, running his hand through his hair, “That was the first time in a long time, actually. The night guy didn’t show up and I was the only one in the store all night.”

            “And you locked up at the normal time?” Agent Baxton sighed, leaning back in the squeaky metal chair.

            “Yep,” Ray nodded, letting his arms rest on the table, “Cameras saw it all, if you want to look.”

            Agent Baxton scowled as Ray gave him a tired look. This wasn’t his first rodeo, not with where his parents came from. The woman cleared her throat, smiling when Ray’s eyes slid over to her. “You look tired, are you sleeping alright?”  
            “Hard to sleep through nightmares,” Ray sighed, leaning back as well. Agent Baxton was studying him closely, he could feel his eyes bore into his brain, trying to crack his skull and see what was inside.

            “Perhaps your dreams might be able to help us, your subconscious might remember something you can’t,” the woman said, still smiling sweetly.

            “It’s the same dream over and over, the same one from the first night,” Ray said, folding his arms, “I don’t think it’ll be much help.”

            “Well, thank you Mr. Narvaez,” Agent Baxton said, standing from the chair, making the legs scrape against the old, blue tile.

            “Anything I can do to help,” Ray said, standing when the woman did.

            “If you need any help with those nightmares, call me. We can set up an appointment,” the woman said, holding a card from her pocket out to Ray.

            “Thanks,” Ray said, taking the card and glancing at the name and number. He tucked Mrs. Burton’s card into a slot in his wallet where plenty of business cards went forgotten.

            His boss saw the two out of the store and he returned to work. As he watched a mother bitch about the price of games while her son tore up one of the displays, Ray wondered what the hell he was doing. Then the mother started yelling at him and he realized he just didn’t care, about anything.

            Within three days, he found himself walking in the opposite direction from the bus stop. As easy as just taking the bus was, he didn’t feel like getting another person killed. Not this time. Instead, he walked all the way to the road. He looked into the forest and hesitantly took a step off the road and entered the tree line.

            Before too long, he found himself surrounded by fog. The first thing that came into focus was a skull mask and strong arms folded over a broad chest. “You really are insane,” Ryan said, looking down at Ray as he smiled up at him.

            “I know,” Ray said, sighing when Ryan stayed tense, “Are you going to kill me now?”

            Ryan stayed tense for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “No, I-I’m just slightly annoyed that you’re here on my day off.”

            Ray’s brow furrowed as he frown at Ryan. “You’re day off? Killers take days off?”

            “All of the time,” Ryan snorted, letting his arms drop to his sides, “I only kill on Monday’s, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And not even every time. Can’t have too many kills in row.”

            Ray snorted and rolled his eyes. “Good to know,” he said, shivering as a sharp breeze went through the air, “Sorry, I’m bothering you.”

            Ryan was silent for a moment before he shook his head. “Its fine, it’s better if you visit on my off days anyway,” he paused and narrowed his eyes at Ray, “If you keep visiting that is.”

            “I don’t see why not,” Ray shrugged, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his purple hoodie, “I’m already lying to the police for you.”

            “What? Why?” Ryan said, hesitantly sitting down and leaning against the decaying farmhouse appearing slowly in the fog behind him.

            “To be honest? I have no fucking clue,” Ray snorted, walking over and sitting next to Ryan.

            Ryan shook his head, carefully scouting so there was about a foot between them. “You really are insane.”

            “Says the psycho killer,” Ray snorted, grinning at Ryan.

            Ryan closed his eyes and leaned his back against the house, sighing through his nose. “You’re ridiculous.”

            “Hell yeah I am,” Ray smirked, sitting up a bit straighter.

            Ryan laughed and shook his head. After a short moment of silence, Ray pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “So.”

            “So?” Ryan said, turning his head to look at Ray.

            Ray blinked at him for a moment, leaning his head against the rusting metal wall. “Is that actually your face or is it a mask?”

            Ryan blinked at Ray a few times before snorting and shaking his head. “Sorry, no more info on me until you’re closer to level two.”

            “Ahhh,” Ray pouted, almost able to see the smile in Ryan’s eyes, “Fiiine. Can you at least tell me why this place spat me out in front of my apartment the other night?”

            Ryan tensed and stared at Ray without blinking. “It did?” he said, folding his arms again.

            “Yep,” Ray nodded, looking ahead of them as the compound slowly came into focus, “I stepped out of the forest right in front of my building.”

            “Huh,” Ryan said, looking down at his lap, “I thought it would only do that for me.”

            Ray glanced at Ryan before looking ahead again. “Guess this place likes me or something.”

            “Or something,” Ryan mumbled before looking at Ray, “So, uh, Overwatch?”

            When Ray finally left, Ryan waved to him before disappearing in the fog. He stepped out of the forest in front of his building once again. Ray looked behind him, searching for the fog or forest but nothing was there but houses and streets.

            “Thanks,” he whispered before crossing the street.

           

* * *

 

            Ray was only able to wait a week before he visited again. He walked out of the north side on a Thursday again, making the short trek to the right spot on the road. Ryan was waiting for him once again, arms folded and eyes amused.

            This time they sat inside the old building where the breeze couldn’t freeze Ray to the bones. They talked about games and movies. Ray told Ryan the horrors of working at GameStop, smiling when Ryan either laughed or was baffled by the stupidity of people.

            Every night, Ryan would ask him if there was anyone or anything giving him trouble and Ray would smile tiredly at him and say there was nothing and everything all at once. Ryan would huff at the answer, but didn’t press. Ray would leave with a wave behind him and then he would step out of the frost in front of his building.

            They had a nice pattern going. Ray was even looking forward to seeing Ryan some days. The killer was much better company than bratty kids and bitchy parents.

            One Thursday, a month since meeting Ryan, he was fairly angry when he slammed the door to the shop closed. He missed a few times trying to get the key into the hole to lock up, growling angrily. He was running late, would have missed the bus minutes ago if he was actually taking it.

He smelled like beer, his least favorite thing in the world. His hands were still shaking when he finally left. He really needed to see Ryan tonight, he’d calm him down. When he finally got to that familiar spot in the road, panting slightly, there was an empty car sitting on the side of the road.

            “Someone’s breaking patterns,” Ray mumbled, frowning at the car. There wasn’t any blood on the car, but there were empty beer bottles and weed scattered inside. One of the joints was still glowing and smoking.

            Ryan had taken three victims that week if the news was to be believed. There was no reason for him to take another car and on his day off no less. Shrugging, Ray headed into the woods and walked out of the fog to screaming.

            Ray stared wide eyed at Ryan standing in front of a hook currently holding a man who was sobbing with blood soaking his shirt. He was holding one of the spider legs trying to stab him, struggling to keep himself from being killed.

            “Help!” the man shouted at Ray, left arm getting weaker from the hook through his shoulder.

            Ryan’s head snapped around, eyes widening when he saw Ray. He gasped and tensed, the axe falling from his fingers, disappearing into a puff a smoke before hitting the ground. Ray looked between them for a moment before relaxing, putting his hands into his pockets.

            “What the fuck are you doing?!” the man screamed, “Help m-!” his words were cut off by his hands slipping on the leg. The sharp leg pierced his stomach followed by two others, another in the font then one in the back. The man went limp, the front legs yanking out of the body, blood gushing out and painting the ground red.

            Ryan looked away as the leg still in the man unhooked him and pushed his limp corpse into the sky where other legs wrapped around him and pulled him into the sky where he disappeared into the darkness.

            Ray stared up at the sky as the legs disappeared. “I think that guy and his friends were just at the store,” he said, looking back at Ryan whose hands were balled into fists, shaking slightly, “They sloshed beer on some of the games and when I asked them to leave, they dumped beer on the counter. I was late leaving because of them.”

            “Ray-“ Ryan said, looking at Ray and starting to take a step forward before stopping himself.

            Ray slowly smiled and walked over to Ryan. “Dude, relax. I know what you do and shit. This actually makes me pretty fucking happy.”

            “What?” Ryan said, eyes snapping to Ray’s.

            “Yeah, those fuckers pissed me the fuck off. Do you know how hard it is to clean up beer?” Ray said, smiling up at Ryan, “Are the others already dead?”

            Ryan slowly nodded, eyes wide and locked on Ray. “I-he was the last one. They, uh. They stopped on the side of the road and dared each other to come in. They wondered in and well, they were too high to actually do anything.”

            “They were fucking plastered when they came to the store,” Ray nodded, looking around before heading for the farm house, “I was just going to vent at you, but this is so much fucking better.”

            Ryan slowly trailed after Ray, sitting down next to him once they got to the barn. They were quiet for a long time. There was only an inch between them and Ryan seemed in another world. Ray gave him all of the time he wanted, feeling his wound up nerves unwind and calm.

            He was smiling to himself when Ryan finally did something other than stare straight ahead. Ray watched him with furrowed brows when he reached up and hooked his fingers under the mask. His eyes widened as Ryan slowly pealed the mask off of his face.

            Ryan set the mask in his lap, cheeks dusted pink as crystal blue eyes looked anywhere but Ray. Short blond hair stuck to his head, soaked in sweat. A strong jaw lead to thin lips pressed into a tight line. There wasn’t a scar, peeling flesh, or demonic scrapes on him. He wasn’t even slightly terrifying.

            “You’re fucking hot,” Ray blurted after a long moment of Ryan’s face turning more and more red.

            Ryan’s eyes snapped to Ray’s before he laughed and relaxed back against the wall. “Thanks?” he said, playing with the fake, peeling skin of the mask, “You’re not too bad yourself.”

            Ray snorted and continued to study Ryan’s face for a moment. “Why a mask?”

            “To look the part, I guess?” Ryan said, setting the mask aside and smiling at Ray, “It’s scarier that way? Imagine walking in here and this face is waiting for you, no one would be scared for long.” He gestured to his face before awkwardly resting his hands in his lap, playing with the frayed ends of the holes in his pants.

            Ray laughed and shook his head. “Fair point, everyone would be fawning over you instead.”

            “I wouldn’t go that far, but sure,” Ryan chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. His voice was no different without the mask. Ray had begun to assume the mask was actually Ryan’s face. He never sounded muffled when wearing the skull.

            “Level up,” Ray said after a brief moment of silence. He smirked when Ryan snorted.

            “Welcome to level two,” Ryan said, smiling at Ray, “You get to see my ugly mug.”

            “Seriously? You wear that mask and have the gull to call yourself ugly?” Ray said, raising an eyebrow.

            “Sounded better in my head?” Ryan said with an awkward smile.

            “Oh my god you’re even more of a nerd now,” Ray said, laughing lightly, “You _dork_.”

            “Hey, I like being a nerd,” Ryan said, smiling as Ray continued to laugh. Ray leaned closer to Ryan, their shoulders almost touching. “Careful, I’m covered in blood.”

            “Right, right,” Ray said, calming down. He leaned away, but made sure there was still only an inch between them. “Fucking amazing.”

            Ryan shook his head. “So, how was your day before those idiots showed up?” he said, smiling as Ray launched into a story about how a woman had no idea what a credit card was.

            The next day, when he got to work, Agent Baxton and Burton were waiting for him in the breakroom. “Mr. Narvaez,” Agent Baxton said, waving for Ray to sit.

            “Is something the matter?” Ray said, frowning as he sat down, “I haven’t heard of anyone else dying, but I didn’t really watch the news this morning.”

            “A car belonging to a local college student was found on the road this morning,” Burton sighed, smiling tiredly at Ray, “he and three of his friends are missing.”

            “Shit,” Ray breathed, eyes widening, “That’s awful, but why are you here to talk to me?”

            “Well, some witnesses said they left here before disappearing,” Agent Baxton said, studying Ray’s face closely.

            Ray stared at them for a long moment before scowling. “Oh, yeah. There were students here. They poured beer on the games and me before leaving. I had to leave late because of them.”

            “We know, we watched the security tapes. You left just as the busses stopped running,” Agent Baxton said, folding his hands on the table. He didn’t even have his notepad out this time.

            “Yeah, I had to walk home,” Ray sighed, leaning back against his chair, folding his arms, “I can’t really afford an Uber right now or something.”

            “Kind of dangerous, don’t you think?” Agent Baxton pressed, ignoring the looks Burton was giving him.

            Ray frowned and tensed. “Well, _yeah_ , but what choice do I have?”

            “Fair enough,” Agent Baxton said, raising his hands in surrender, leaning back against his chair, “But, didn’t you see their car on your walk home?”

            Ray pursed his lips and shook his head, rolling his eyes up and to the right. “Not that I recall. I think I saw a car speed past me when I was walking, but that’s about it.”

            Agent Baxton tensed and frowned, narrowing his eyes at Ray. “That’s the only car you saw?”

            “Only one I remember,” Ray said with a shrug, “They were all over the place, thought they were going to hit me.”

            “Why didn’t you call the cops?” Burton said, frowning at Ray worriedly.

            “It was late, I was tired,” Ray sighed, shaking his head, “I figured that, by the time I had called, they would have been long gone and I’d be wasting everyone’s time.”

            Burton nodded slightly as Agent Baxton scowled. He fidgeted in his seat and Ray smiled internally. He had nothing to prove that Ray was lying. There were no cameras along that stretch of road and the last camera that could have possible seen Ray would have recorded him walking home and a car full of high off their asses teenagers driving raucously just as he said there would be.

            “Well, thank you for your time,” Burton said after a long moment of Agent Baxton staring Ray down and Ray looking tiredly back. She ushered the agent out with a polite wave and sheepish smile.

            Ray smirked to himself when they left, getting to work. He had to tell Ryan about this soon.

           

* * *

 

            A storm rolled in about an hour before Ray was to leave work. Now, keys to the front door in hand, he watched the rain pound the ground. He pursed his lips as the rain slammed on the pavement, streams of water racing down the street.

            Sighing he pulled his hood up and opened the door huddling under the small ledge hanging over the door as he locked up the shop. He ran to the bus stop and hugged himself once he was in the glass box, glad the county had forked over the money for roofs. The bus pulled up a few minutes later and Ray hurried on.

            Shivering, he settled into his seat after paying with cash and waited for them to come to the right spot in the road. He tried to clean his glasses and couldn’t find a dry spot on him to clean them with. Settling for spotty classes, he hit the button and frowned when the driver didn’t stop. “Hey! I need to get off,” He said, leaning around the chair to look at the driver.

            “No way,” the driver said, already driving slower than normal as the windshield wipers struggled to keep the glass clear, “Are you crazy? Do you know what happens around here at this time?”

            Ray scowled, tensing when he heard the bus sputter then slow further. “Oh god,” the driver breathed, slamming her foot on the pedal, “No, no.”

            Ray stood and looked out the window as the bus shuttered to a stop. He could just make out Ryan’s figure in the tree line. Smiling slightly, he turned toward the driver who was looking out the window in horror.

            “I don’t want to die!” she screeched, tears pooling in her eyes. Ray rolled his eyes and headed for the door. He reached for the lever by the woman grabbed his arm and yanked him away. “What are you doing?!”

            “Getting us out of here, he’ll come in no matter what, we need to make a break for it,” Ray said, yanking his arm free, “Open the door before he gets here!”

            The woman sniffed and started to sob, shakily reaching for the lever for the door. She pushed them open and the sound of church bells filled the bus. Ray smirked as familiar hands squeezed his shoulders.

            The driver screamed, watching Ray step aside, tears pouring down her cheeks. Ryan stepped past Ray who leaned against the windshield, stuffing his hands into his pockets, shivering from the cool air leaking into the bus.

            The woman started begging pitifully as Ryan’s axe materialized in his hand. “I hope it’s not raining at the compound,” Ray said, watching Ryan’s tense back. The woman continued to beg and Ryan continued to stare her down. “You okay there, big guy?”  
            “Not going to leave?” Ryan said, not looking back at Ray.

            “What, and go out into the rain? Fuck no,” Ray snorted, shivering slightly in his soaked clothes, “Do you see that rain?”  
            Ryan snorted and raised his axe. Ray watched the blood splatter the windshield, Ryan’s body protecting him from the rest. Nothing Ryan did ever scared him. The freaky spider legs didn’t even scare him anymore.

            “Sorry I ruined your ride home,” Ryan said as the axe disappeared and he unbuckled the woman.

            “Its fine, the compound is faster transport anyway,” Ray said, stepping off the bus and hunching over in the rain.

            Ryan followed after him, chuckling when he saw Ray shivering in the rain. “Come on,” he said, holding his arm out to Ray, “It’s not raining at the compound.”

            Ray smiled and tucked himself against Ryan’s side. They headed for the forest, the thump of the woman’s body hitting the stairs as she was dragged after them. The instant they crossed into the tree line, they were in the compound.

            “Woah,” Ray said, smiling up at Ryan. He pushed his hood back as Ryan let him go and dragged the woman over to the nearest hook. “I always wondered if you could just walk in whenever you wanted.”

            “And wherever,” Ryan said as he lifted the woman and hooked her, “Did you pay with cash this time?”

            “Yep, they can’t trace me,” Ray said, peeling his jacket off and twisting the fabric to wring out the water.

            Ryan nodded, turning away from the corpse as the spider legs appeared around the woman. He walked over to Ray, pulling his completely dry jacket off and dropping the warm leather on Ray’s shoulders.

            Ray froze and looked up at Ryan, but he was busy pulling his mask off. Smiling slightly, he slipped his arms through the sleeves and continued to wring out his jacket. Without his jacket, Ryan was only in a tight, black t-shirt. He had long arms and large hands. Ray watched him out of the corner of his eye as Ryan pulled the gloves off and tossed them onto the ground along with the mask. They all disappeared into black smoke.

            Ray snapped his eyes to his soaking jacket when Ryan turned around. He looked back up when Ryan made a choking noise. “You okay, Rye?” he said, raising an eyebrow when he realized that Ryan was staring at him with a blush and small smile.

            “Yeah, fine,” Ryan said after a second. He studied how his jacket hung off of Ray’s shoulders, the bottom reaching a little more than halfway down Ray’s thighs. He had the sleeves pushed up so he could actually use his hands, the fabric bunched up on his forarms.

            “You sure?” Ray said, slowly smiling, “You’re blushing.”

            Ryan’s eyes snapped up to Ray’s and his flush deepened. “It’s just cold!” he gasped out, looking at Ray’s shoes.

            Ray chuckled and shook his head. He walked over to the farm house and tossed his coat over the ledge of the empty window. Ryan trailed after him, watching as the sleeves of the heavy jacket fell to cover his hands.

            Ray turned and smiled at Ryan, freezing when he realized there was black smoke covering Ryan’s lower half. “Uh, dude?” he said, hiding his smile behind the sleeve, “Having a pants malfunction? Hiding a hard on?”  
            Ryan covered his face with his hands as Ray snickered. “No, these pants are just uncomfortable,” he huffed stepping out of the smoke in mother fucking Dad jeans.

            “Oh, you’re kidding me,” Ray laughed, smiling at Ryan’s normal pants and ratty tennis shoes, “You have dad jeans?”

            “What?” Ryan said, brow furrowing at Ray.

            “You have dad jeans!” Ray said, point at Ryan’s pants, “It suits you.”

            Ryan’s brow furrowed then he shrugged. “Thanks, I suppose?” he said, smiling when Ray smiled brightly at him.

            Ray gasped and Ryan frowned. “Holy shit, Level up!” Ray said, raising his arms, the sleeves falling down his arms.

            Ryan blinked then laughed lightly. “I suppose this counts, yeah,” he said, shaking his head at Ray.

            “It’s been fucking months!” Ray laughed, dropping his arms. He shivered as his wet shirt pressed against his skin. He pulled Ryan’s bloodied jacket tighter around him.

            “Only two,” Ryan snorted, walking over and sitting under the window Ray’s jacket was hanging in.

            “How long have we known each other?” Ray said, sitting down beside him so their arms were pressed together, “Three months? That’s a level a month.”

            “You accomplished the first two fairly close together,” Ryan said, leaning against Ray slightly.

            “Not the point,” Ray said, smiling at Ryan, “Thanks for stopping the bus, by the way. She wasn’t going to stop.”

            “I figured when it went past where you normal come in,” Ryan said, ruffling Ray’s wet hair.

            “Hey!” Ray said, pulling his glasses off of his face and pouting at Ryan. “I can’t dry these.”

            “Here,” Ryan chuckled, plucking the glasses from his fingers and cleaning the lenses on his shirt.

            “Thanks,” Ray said, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder. The compound was always kind of creepy, by design, but when everything was a giant blur he couldn’t find anything to be creeped out by.

            Once Ryan finished drying his glasses, he handed them back to Ray. He watched him slip them back on. “How was work?” he said once Ray had put his head back on his shoulder.

            “Boring as fuck,” Ray snorted, hugging the jacket tighter as he pulled his knees closer to his chest, “No one came because of the rain.”

            “I think the news said that it’s going to rain all night as well,” Ryan said, watching Ray wrap the jacket around his knees as well, “Cold?”

            “A little,” Ray sighed, shivering slightly.

            “Well, I can’t control the weather,” Ryan said, laughing when Ray pouted up at him, “What? I can’t.”

            “You’re an ass,” Ray huffed, smiling when Ryan rolled his eyes, “How was your day?”

            Ryan paused, Ray hadn’t bothered asking since they met. He pressed his lips into a thin line then shrugged. “Meh,” he said carefully.

            Ray nodded and began their normal conversation about games and movies. Ryan complained, once again, that Ray didn’t read enough. He laughed as Ryan jumped up and came back with three thin books that he shoved into Ray’s hands.

            “Read at least one of them before you come back,” Ryan said, watching Ray sort through the books, reading their descriptions.

            “Fine, just for you,” Ray said, tilting his head back and smiling at Ryan.

            Ryan shook his head and ruffled Ray’s drying hair. When Ray had to leave, he moved to pull Ryan’s jacket off but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. “Just keep it until next week.”

            “Don’t you need it?” Ray said, shouldering the jacket again, his own in his hands.

            “Nah, one always appears when I need it,” Ryan said, smiling at Ray, “Head on home, I’ll see you next week.”

            Ray nodded and left the compound, waving at Ryan with the long sleeve until he disappeared. Smiling, he stepped out of the forest onto the sidewalk like he always did. He ran into his apartment building and snuck upstairs to his apartment. Once inside, he looked down at Ryan’s jacket he was shocked to find the leather jacket had turned into an old and soaked tan jacket.

            Still massive on him, the jacket was warm and soft on the inside. He went to the bathroom and hung everything on the curtain rod. He held Ryan’s jacket up and smiled. “Yep, this suits him better,” he mumbled to himself before tossing the jacket over the curtain rod.

            In the morning, the rain had finally stopped and everything was completely soaked. The air was crisp so Ray grabbed Ryan’s jacket and pulled the soft, worn jacket tight around him. Smiling to himself, he got on the bus and went to work.

            He wore the jacket for most of the day, even when he felt like he could over heat. Meg watched him with a knowing smirk the entire day. As they were eating lunch in the break room, she just kept staring at him as he tried not to spill any of the taco he had gotten from the Taco Bell next door on Ryan’s jacket.

            “You’re dating someone,” Meg said as Ray was mid-bite. Her own taco salad container laid empty in front of her, fork carelessly tossed in.

            Ray froze, mouth open and taco in hand. Frowning, he set his lunch down. “What?”

            “You’re dating someone, you’re happier and you have a boyfriend jacket,” Meg said, pointing at Ryan’s jacket, “Which is adorable, by the way.”

            Ray felt his face heat up and rolled his eyes. “I’m not dating anyone.”

            “Where’d the jacket come from?” Meg said, smirking when Ray’s blush reached the tip of his ears.

            “A friend,” Ray croaked, frowning at her. He felt the need to wrap the jacket tighter around him, but kept himself still. Meg would probably just call him adorable again.

            “A friend you want to make out with,” Meg laughed, smirking at Ray.

            Ray opened his mouth then snapped his teeth. He frowned at her as she laughed. “Okay, fine. I want to date him or whatever, but he wouldn’t-can’t really.”

            Meg frowned before patting his shoulder as he hunched over, frowning at his taco. “Ah, sorry bud. He dating someone or something?”

            “I-I don’t know,” Ray said, letting the sleeves of the jacket cover his hands, “He’s just nice and I like his face, its fine.”

            Her face was full as pity when he looked at her again. Shaking his head, he continued eating and she mercifully left him alone. Regardless, that didn’t stop her from teasing him all week. He was never happier when she finally left Thursday.

            His boss left after bringing Ray some diner as a ‘thanks for putting up with the bullshit’ gift. Ray sighed, huddled up behind the counter, wrapped up in Ryan’s jacket and one of his books. He was going to miss having this jacket, it was fucking comfortable.

            He looked up when the bell over the door rang. A man with greasy hair and a dirty tweed suit strolled into the store. He perused the shelves as Ray kept half an eye on him. He kept his fingers between the pages as he closed the book when the man set a game case on the counter.

            “Anything else?” Ray said, barely glancing up at the man’s greasy smile.

            “Just your number,” the man said, leaning against the counter and smirking at Ray.

            Ray blinked tiredly at the man, reaching into the jacket’s pocket and placing a messed up receipt between the pages. “How original,” he deadpanned setting the book down before grabbing the game case and started ringing up the game.

            The man pursed his lips, watching Ray poke at the register. Ray kept him in the corner of his eye, inwardly scowling at the fifty something staring him down. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

            Ray bit back his sass and relayed the price for the game, looking at the man expectantly. The man sighed and pulled his wallet out, handing over a hundred dollar bill. He smirked at Ray, leaning against the counter as he tapped his wallet against the counter.

            Ray blinked at the man, holding the bill with vague annoyance. “Right,” he mumbled, opening the register to make change for a ten dollar purchase. He handed the change over then started to bag the game.

            “So, do you play?” the man said gesturing to the game Ray was hastily stuffing into the plastic bag.

            Ray paused and gave the man a tired look. “Do you not see the boyfriend jacket?” he said, blinking slowly at the idiot.

            The man frowned and glanced over the jacket hanging from Ray’s shoulders. “I just assumed you liked looking cute,” he said with his apparently signature used car salesman smile.

            A shiver shook down Ray’s spine as he shoved the bag at the man. “Boyfriend jacket,” he said carefully, yanking his hands back as quickly as he could.

            The man pouted but didn’t leave. He continued to spew one liners and generally be creepy. Ray scowled at the guy, afraid to even pretend to read in case the guy decided to do something. When closing finally came, he still couldn’t get the guy to leave.

            “Come on, let me drive you home, at least,” the man said, trailing after Ray a little too close.

            Ray’s eye twitched and he nearly had to shove the man out of the damn store so he could lock up. “I don’t want you to go out of your way.”

            “I live in the south side,” the man said, smiling brighter when he believed he was getting somewhere, “You?”

            “South side,” Ray mumbled, locking the doors and hugging Ryan’s jacket closer. An idea sparked in his head and he smirked, “Well, as long as I’m not out of the way.”

            “Oh, you’re not!” the man smirked, gesturing to the shitty old truck sitting in front of the store.

            Ray felt gross the instant he sat down in the truck. He tucked himself against the door, as far from the man as he could get. When they crossed the bridge, he hoped he wasn’t wrong. Granted, he was fairly confused when the man pulled over much sooner than he thought he should without the truck having so much as sputter once. They were close enough though, away from cameras and next to the woods.

            “So,” the man said, turning to face Ray, “I’m sure you know where this is going.”

            “Yep,” Ray said with a nodded, glancing out the window. He smiled when he saw a familiar fog already rolling in thick. “You, however, have no idea how this is going to go.”

            The man laughed and turned the truck off. “I’m not letting _that_ happen, you’re cute for trying though.”

            “Not what I was talking about,” Ray said, rolling his eyes. He hugged Ryan’s jacket closer, “Do you always stop here?”

            “No, but I’ve heard today was safe, scared? That, turn you own?” the man said, leaning closer.

            Ray scowled and shivered, quickly unbuckling himself. “Yeah, no,” he said, reaching for the door.

            The man reached past him and pressed the manual lock down. “Ah ah! You knew this would happen.”

            “Doesn’t mean I wanted it,” Ray snorted, leaning as far back as he could, “Well, not _that_ anyway.” Ray faintly heard church bells and looked over the man’s shoulder. He smirked when he saw familiar red eyes burning in the window, a bloody axe already at the ready. “You’re dead,” he said, eyes snapping toward the man, “oh so very dead.”

            The man frowned but didn’t get a chance to speak. Ryan grabbed the handle and ripped the driver’s side door completely off. The man gasped and turned. He nearly screamed when he saw Ryan standing there in all of his horrifying glory reaching for him.

            “Holy shit!” the man gasped, scrambling for the passenger door. Ray pulled the lock and let the man crawl over him to tumble head first out of the truck. He scrambled to his feet and ran straight into the woods.

            Ray laughed, feeling much safer when church bells filled his head and a shadow loomed over him. “Are you okay?” Ryan said, his arms wrapping around Ray and pulling him from the truck.

            “I’m fine, I knew you’d show up,” Ray said, smiling up at Ryan. His fingers curled in Ryan’s leather jacket, his unease slowly melting away.

            Ryan’s eyes were frowning as he squeezed Ray tightly. “What were you thinking? Were you trying to lure him here?”

            “Yeah,” Ray snorted, rolling his eyes, “He’s a creep and disgusting, he deserves it.” He frowned when black smoke started to surround them and the church bells started but were muffled, “What are you doing?”

            “Teleporting us,” Ryan said, holding Ray tighter. The smoked completely blocked out the road and the waxing moon. When the smoke cleared, they were in the farmhouse’s second floor, the man’s shouting echoing around the compound.

            “Woah,” Ray breathed as the world spun. He held onto Ryan’s jacket tighter, closing his eyes as his stomach protested.

            “Sit, you’ll be alright,” Ryan said softly, scooping Ray up in his arms and setting him down on the decaying dresser resting in the corner of the destroyed room.

            “What? No way! I wanna see you end him,” Ray said, trying to blink Ryan into focus, holding onto his jacket as tightly as he could, “Hell, I want to help.”

            “What? No. That’s dangerous, Ray,” Ryan said, eyes scowling as he tried to pry Ray’s hands from his jacket.

            “I’ll be fine,” Ray said, smiling as Ryan finally came into focus and the world stopped spinning. His mask had long since become comforting.

            Ryan puffed a sigh, hands just resting on top of Ray’s. He stared at him for a long moment, red eyes bouncing between Ray’s brown ones making Ray wonder, not for the first time, how that worked. “Fine, you can watch. But no helping,” he said, shaking his head.

            Ray grinned and nodded, loosening his grip on Ryan’s jacket as he was lifted off of the dresser. “Alright, fine. I’ll take it,” he said as his feet hit the ground.

            Ryan nodded once, made sure Ray wouldn’t topple over, and then led Ray through the farmhouse. He had Ray stay hidden in the corn and brush as he tracked the man down to one of the wooden mazes, right next to a hook.

            Ray watched over a lower wall as Ryan stalked toward the man. His axe materialized in his hand. He watched Ryan raise his axe again and again as the man’s screams went from clear to garbled to silence. For a long time, there was nothing but the sick slap of metal coming down on bones and skin. Blood spirted from the man’s body as Ryan swung the axe down, his body tense and fueled by rage. By the time the man was finally hung on the hook, there wasn’t much left of him.

            Ray slowly creeped out from behind the wall, taking Ryan’s hand gently. Ryan’s entire body heaved with his breathing. The axe and outfit disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Ryan with his dad jeans and a form fitting green t-shirt.

            “You okay, big guy?” Ray said softly, slipping his hand into Ryan’s and squeezing gently.

            Ryan stared at the now empty hook down, hand trembling slightly in Ray’s. “I-he pissed me off,” he grumbled, squeezing Ray’s hand back, “I knew him. I-I had no idea he-” he scowled, looking away from the hook and Ray.

            “What?” Ray said, frowning up at Ryan. He had to lean around him to try and catch his eye. Smiling when Ryan finally looked at him.

            “I worked with him,” Ryan said slowly, blue eyes locked on Ray’s. His grip slowly tightened around Ray’s fingers, other hand balled into a shaking fist.

            “Oh,” Ray said, biting his lip. He looked at the hook awkwardly. Blood still dripped from the rusted metal, the drops echoing around the compound as they hit the deep puddle under the hook.

            Ryan watched Ray for a moment before smiling hesitantly and squeezing Ray’s hand. “We work for a computer company, I program and he does – did – all of the hardware.”

            Ray’s eyes snapped up to Ryan, widening comically. Ryan’s smile grew as Ray let his hand go and raised them over his head. “Level up,” Ray said softly.

            Ryan snorted and sputtered a laugh. He hugged Ray tightly and pressed his cheek against his head. “You are ridiculous.”

            “You know it!” Ray said with a laugh. He dropped his hands onto Ryan’s shoulders and hugged him back.

            They hugged in peace for only a second before Ryan’s arms tightened around Ray’s with the echo of another drop. “I can’t believe he-“ his words caught in his throat and he pressed his nose into Ray’s shoulder, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

            Ray smiled softly, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against Ryan’s head. He rubbed soothing circles between Ryan’s shoulder blades. “I’m okay, I knew you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me.”

            Ryan laughed dryly, leaning back slightly to shake his head at Ray. “Of course, I don’t think I would rest until that fucker was on a hook if he had done anything.”

            Ray laughed and pulled Ryan back into a tight hug. “Thank you,” he sighed, feeling himself shiver slightly, “I couldn’t really think of any other way to get rid of him.”

            Ryan snorted and pulled back, smiling down at Ray. He opened his mouth, but paused, eyes scanning over the tan jacket Ray was wearing. His brow furrowed slowly as he reached up and pulled at the collar of the jacket. “Is that mine?”

            “I thought so,” Ray said, letting Ryan go and stepping back, holding up the long sleeves, “This appeared when I left last time.”

            “Huh,” Ryan said, chuckling and shaking his head, “I forgot I was wearing this that day.” He pulled on the sleeves, laughing lightly.

            “I suppose you want it back then?” Ray said, shrugging the jacket off. He had forgotten that he wanted to bring his own jacket so he would have something to cover his thin arms.

            Ryan took the jacket when Ray held it out to him. He looked between the worn, tan fabric to Ray shivering slightly and trying not to rub his arms to combat the goose bumps slowly rising on his skin. Smiling, he draped the jacket around Ray’s shoulders again. “Just keep it until next time when you have your own jacket.”

            Ray looked up at Ryan with wide eyes before smiling brightly. “Okay cool, thanks,” he said, putting his arms through the sleeves and hugging the jacket close, “You sure?”

            Ryan chuckled and nodded, herding Ray back toward the farmhouse. “So, did you read those books?”

            “Oh no you don’t!” Ray said, tilting his head back to pout up at Ryan, “You’re telling me about your day!”

            Ryan sighed, still smiling softly. “Fine, but you better have read those books.”

            “I guess you’ll find out,” Ray said with a smirk, “But first, how was your day?”

            Ryan laughed and shook his head. Ryan’s day job was surprisingly boring. He didn’t work with customers and the most exciting thing to happen was his grand search for a misplaced comma in his code. He did have a few stories about the man he just murdered and his doucheiness.

            “He made me feel gross,” Ray huffed, hugging his knees tightly to his chest.

            Ryan frowned and wrapped his arm around Ray’s shoulders and hugged him. They were sitting with their sides pressed together. “Sorry, I-are you sure you’re okay?”

            “Yeah, now that he’s dead,” Ray said, smiling up at Ryan, “I owe you.”

            “Nah, I need my daily dose of Ray for the week,” Ryan said, rolling his eyes when Ray laughed, “But, I played your game, now, how were the books?”

            Ryan kept his arms around Ray’s shoulders as he launched into a long complaint about the ending of one of the books. “And I know you did that on purpose!” Ray said, pouting at Ryan.

            Ryan laughed and shook his head. “Perhaps, perhaps not. You’ll never know.”

            Ray snorted and rolled his eyes, smacking Ryan’s shoulder as he leaned more into his side. “Asshole.”

 

* * *

 

            “I was afraid to die.”

            Ray blinked slowly at Ryan, frozen in place. He had just entered the compound and Ryan was waiting for him like he always did, but this time he was curled up in a ball against the farmhouse wall.

            Frowning, he walked over and sat next to Ryan slowly. He still had Ryan’s jacket. Had been conveniently forgetting his own jacket for weeks now.

            “I was so scared of dying,” Ryan said softly, arms wrapped tightly around his legs and his forehead resting against his forearms, “I didn’t care that I’d be leaving family and friends behind.”

            Ray carefully wrapped his arms around Ryan, rubbing his back. He pressed his forehead against his shoulder. “I got the idea when I was playing some game. Could some dark magic actually grant me eternal life?” Ryan laughed weakly, trembling slightly, “So I did some research and found this dark god that granted wishes in exchange for something.”

            Ray rubbed circles between Ryan’s shoulder blades as Ryan tilted to lean against him. “I summoned him, thinking it wouldn’t work, but it did.” Ryan shuttered a sigh, taking a few deep breathes. “He turned out to be a giant spider. He granted me my wish, but I had to feed him. So he gave me this world that’s on his back and made it impossible for people to track me down. I’ll live as long as I feed him.”

            Ray hugged Ryan tighter and nuzzled his head against his hair. “I think I can figure out the rest,” he said softly.

            Ryan nodded and trembled as they sat there. Ray held him tightly for as long as Ryan needed him to. Eventually Ryan sat up a bit, eyes a bit puffy and red. He smiled tiredly at Ray before reaching up to rub his eyes. “I don’t regret my choice.”

            Ray nodded and pulled his sleeve over his hand to wipe the tears away. “I can understand that.”

            Ryan laughed and rested their heads together. “Of course you do,” he said softly, closing his eyes, “You’re insane.”

            Ray chuckled and wiped Ryan’s tears away gently before resting his hand on Ryan’s arm. Their fingers somehow tangled as they sat there. “I have only one question for you,” Ray said once Ryan stopped sniffling.

            Ryan took a deep breath and looked Ray in the eyes. “What is it?” he said, face stern and jaw tight.

            “We’re on a spider’s back?” Ray hissed, shivering slightly, “What the _fuck_.”

            Ryan stared at Ray for a long moment before bursting out laughing. He leaned against Ray, head tucked against his chest, as he calmed down. “Yes, we’re on the back of a spider.”  
            “Well fuck,” Ray said, wrinkling his nose, “I guess I can’t say I hate spiders, can I?”

            “That wouldn’t be wise, no,” Ryan chuckled, squeezing his hand.

            “Oh well,” Ray sighed, carding his fingers through Ryan’s hair, chin resting on his head, “Oh, also. Level up!” he shouted, smiling brightly at Ryan when he scowled up at him.

            Ryan shook his head, unable to scowl at Ray long. “You’re fucking ridiculous,” he said, snuggling close again.

            “You keep saying that,” Ray said as he hugged Ryan’s head.

            “Because it’s true,” Ryan said muffled against Ray’s shirt. They sat in silence for a long moment before Ryan closed his eyes and sighed. “Thank you.”

            Ray smiled and closed his own eyes. “No problem, big guy.”

            When Ray went to leave this time, Ryan caught his hands and pulled him into one more tight hug before letting him go. Ray smiled back at Ryan before he disappeared in the fog. Looking forward, he frozen when the world was pitch black.

            Tense, he looked around nervously, clutching at the end of the jacket’s sleeves. He took a hesitant step forward and gasped when eight, glowing white eyes opened in front of him. Large and long spider legs barely a different color from the blackness slammed into the ground around him.

            “So nice to finally meet you,” the eyes chittered, staring Ray down soullessly.

            Ray stared up at the eyes without breathing. He swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Good to meet you too?”

            The spider made a crunching sound that made his teeth hurt. As Ray winced at the sound echoing around him, he realized the spider was laughing. “I know he likes you,” the spider said after a beat of silence, “I know you love him.”

            Ray tensed and frowned at the eyes. “Okay, and? Not hard to miss.”

            “ _And_ , I would like to offer you a proposition,” the spider chattered, the legs shifting and slamming down on the ground again, “Of course, I’m generous. I’ll give you time to think about it.”

            Ray narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. “I trust nothing you say,” he said, wincing when the spider laughed again.

            “You’re smart to do so,” the spider said, the eyes blinking out of sync, “Now, I wish to offer you the position of bringing food to Ryan. You lead people here, help Ryan kill them, and the two of you can spend eternity together.”

            Ray frowned and relaxed slowly. “What’s the catch?” he said after a moment.

            “No catch, I simply want to be fed and humans are not dumb. They will eventually shut down the road and I am too lazy to move,” the spider sighed, the eyes rocking form side to side, “With your help, I won’t have to move. And, Ryan _has_ become my favorite human, and I don’t mind keeping him happy.”

            Ray raised an eyebrow at the spider. “Really?”

            “Yes, really,” the spider laughed, making Ray wince, “And you are quickly becoming my second favorite human.”

            Ray snorted and smiled gently. “Even if I don’t like spiders?”

            “I still like you,” the eyes bobbed up and down as the legs shifted again, “I am not cruel, Ray. I care for my humans. When you have made your decision, let me know when you leave the compound and Ryan has disappeared from sight.”

            Ray nodded then winced as the world suddenly turned a blinding white. Ray closed his eyes and then covered them with his hands. He heard the spider’s laughter fade away and blinked past his fingers. His apartment building faded into sight.

            “Fucking weird,” he mumbled, crossing the street and rubbing his poor eyes, spots covering his vision.

            He was woken in the morning by a loud banging on his door. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed and shuffled toward the door, pulling on pajama pants as he went. “What?” he snapped when he opened the door.

            “Hello Mr. Narvaez,” a familiar, annoying voice said.

            Ray squinted at Agent Baxton with a scowl. “Couldn’t wait for me at work?” he slurred, stepping away from the door and letting Agent Baxton and Burton into his apartment.  

            “No,” Agent Baxton said, stalking into the apartment, “Did you hear about the man that went missing last night?”

            “Uh, no,” Ray said, rubbing his eyes, “I literally just woke up.”

            Agent Baxton opened his mouth the furrowed his brow. Burton rolled her eyes and smiled at Ray. “I’m sorry we woke you,” she said, stepping into the apartment and closing the door softly, “We just have some questions.”

            “Okay,” Ray sighed, folding his arms, “What?”

            “You were with the man that went missing!” Agent Baxton said, smiling proudly. He was pointing an accusing finger right into Ray’s face.

            Ray blinked slowly at Agent Baxton before looking at Burton who sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, he drove me home?”

            “Yes, the same night he disappeared, just like the bus driver and that bus load you were with!” Agent Baxton said, towering over Ray, finger nearly pressing against Ray’s nose.

            Ray blinked tiredly at him. “Listen, I survived once and clearly this fucker isn’t good at catching me again.”

            Agent Baxton opened his mouth then frowned. Burton, pushed him away from Ray, slapping his hand, before smiling sweetly at him. “I’m very sorry about this, Mr. Narvaez, but it is suspicious.”

            “I agree,” Ray said with a shrug, “But I’m not the guy. The murders started way before I was even involved.”

            “That’s completely true, and it’s impossible for you to have committed them, isn’t that right?” Burton said through her teeth, shooting Agent Baxton a glare.

            Agent Baxton scowled and stormed out of the apartment. Burton sighed after him. “I’m  really sorry,” she said, turning back toward Ray, “He’s hell bent on you being the murderer.”

            “I’ve noticed,” Ray snorted, smiling a Burton, “It’s alright, good luck with him and the investigation.”

            Burton nodded and smiled, leaving the apartment and closing the door behind her. He puffed out a sigh, closing his eyes and pressing the heel of his hands into them. “Well that was close,” he grumbled before wondering back over to his bed.

            When he arrived to work, he barely noticed the car parked across the street. He didn’t notice the car all week until Meg pointed out the black Sedan with a worried frown. Ray blinked at the car and frowned. He weighed his options then shrugged. This would work itself out come Thursday.

            When the day came, Ray locked up like he always did, the car watching his every move as he walked away from the bus stop. The chill of the beginning of fall made Ray shutter as he pulled Ryan’s jacket tighter around him.

            The car slowly rolled after him, far enough back that he couldn’t hear the engine or the crunch of the tires. He shook his head and walked out to his normal spot but before he could turn into the woods, the car’s lights suddenly burst to life behind him.

            Squinting against the light, he turned and frowned, raising his hand to block his eyes. “End of the line Narvaez,” Agent Baxton’s voice said beyond the light.

            “What?” Ray said, blinking against the bright light, “Turn off the blinders man.”

            There was a grumble and then a click. Ray was seeing spots as the lights turned low and he could finally make out Agent Baxton’s dark shape in the night. There was another click that made him tense. As his eyes adjusted he realized there was a gun being pointed at him.

            “Oh, you really don’t want to do that,” Ray said, raising his hands slowly. The fog was suddenly pouring from the forest in thick waves.

            “I know that it’s you,” Agent Baxton said, staring Ray down, “I know you’ve taken those people, where are they?”

            Ray frowned and looked at the forest. He could see eight, glowing, white eyes staring as a familiar form started to emerge from the thick fog. “Oh, you are so fucked man.”

            “Where are they?! Answer me!” Agent Baxton snarled, glaring at Ray, the gun clicking dangerously.

            Ray looked back at Agent Baxton and shook his head. “Ya know, I’m surprised you haven’t been attacked sooner,” he said, not moving a muscle, “I’m sure you go up and down this strip all of the time.”

            Before the agent could respond, a long, spindly, massive leg of a spider slammed into the ground from beyond the forest. As Agent Baxton looked over at the leg, eyes widening, Ryan emerged from the woods, axe in hand, eight eyes hovering over him.

            “Remember, you were the one that wanted to meet the killer,” Ray laughed, stepping back and stuffing his hands into his pockets as the massive heard of a hairy spider emerged from the woods, more legs following the first. The points of the legs dug into the ground, pushing up dirt and shaking the ground as they slammed down. Agent Baxton looked up in horror, raising his gun and trying to fire. The gun clicked and he looked at the gun in confused horror.

            Ryan raised his axe and rested the handle against his shoulder as the spider chittered, giant mandibles moved unsettlingly. Agent Baxton didn’t even get a chance to scream before the spider swung down and grabbed his head in a giant jaw. Agent Baxton’s arms and legs flailed for only a moment before a sickening crack echoed around them and he went limp. The spider brought two legs up and pushed more of the man into his mouth.

            Ray shuddered and looked away, yelping when he was suddenly wrapped up in strong arms. “Holy fuck,” Ryan breathed, the mask disappearing as he pressed his nose against Ray’s cheek.

            “I’m okay,” Ray chuckled, hugging Ryan back, nose buried in Ryan’s copper smelling jacket, “Thank you.”

            “Thank him,” Ryan said, glancing up at the spider enjoying his meal, “He knew he was following you the moment he started.”

            “Thank you!” Ray shouted, smiling as the spider looked down at them. A clanging laugh echoed around them before the spider faded away, blood dripping from the mandibles and an arm hanging limp between them.

            Ryan laughed, pressing his face into the crook of Ray’s neck. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” he sighed, holding him tighter, “He pulled a _gun_ on you.”

            Ray chuckled and held Ryan just as tightly. He smiled and pressed his face into Ryan’s shoulder, relaxing against him.

            “Come on, I think you need to sit down,” Ryan said after a moment. He pulled back and scooped Ray up into his arms and taking him into the woods. Ray laughed and wrapped his arms around Ryan’s shoulders, snuggling against his chest.

Once they were in the compound, Ryan set Ray down on the dresser, standing between his legs, hands on his hips. They smiled at each other as Ray leaned back against the wall.

            “My legs feel like fucking noodles,” Ray said, rubbing the top of his thighs, “That gun has probably been the most terrifying thing I’ve seen in a while.”

            “Really now? I don’t scare you? He doesn’t scare you?” Ryan said, squeezing Ray’s hips gently.

            “Fuck no,” Ray snorted, shaking his head, “The two of you are too awesome.”

            Ryan laughed and rolled his eyes. He reached up and nudged Ray to sit up, Ray complying with a furrowed brow. Ryan pulled him close, wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him.

            Ray tensed, eyes widening. Before Ryan could get the wrong idea, he happily kissed back, hands finding Ryan’s shoulder and then slide up them into Ryan’s hair. They pulled back with dazed smiles and panting slightly.

            Ryan rested his forehead against Ray’s, looking between his eyes and letting their noses bump against each other. “Level up,” Ryan said softly, grinning as Ray choked a laugh.

            “What the fuck man!” Ray said, leaning back as he laughed, “We were having a moment!”

            “Ah, did I ruin it?” Ryan said, nuzzling his nose against Ray’s cheek.

            “Yes, yes you did,” Ray said, running his fingers through Ryan’s hair. “We finally fucking kiss and the first thing you say is level up? That’s my fucking line! Wait, what level am I at now? Is there even a need for levels after-mph!” Ray smiled as Ryan kissed him against just to shut him up.

            Ryan pulled back only slightly to let Ray laugh before kissing him again. They only parted for moments, long enough for Ray to consider complaining again, but by the point he was about to start, Ryan was kissing him again.

            “Okay, fine, I get it,” Ray laughed breathlessly when Ryan pulled back again, “I’ll shut up.”

            “Don’t get me wrong,” Ryan said softly, squeezing Ray gently, “I love hearing you talk, but right now you’re in my jacket and very kissable.”

            “Good thing I wear your jacket all of the time,” Ray said, leaning forward so their lips were brushing, “Now I get all of the fucking kisses.”

            Ryan laughed and kissed Ray again. “By the way, this is only level ten,” Ryan said when they parted.

            Ray rolled his eyes and kissed Ryan again before grunting and pulling back. “What level is blow jobs?”

            “Ray, you’re asexual,” Ryan said, trying not to laugh too hard.

            “Answer the question Ryan,” Ray said, smiling when Ryan just kissed him again.

           

* * *

 

            “Are you sure you live down this way?” the man driving said, glancing in the rear view mirror at the back seat where a young man who had told them his name was Ray, sat in a heavy tan jacket over a light purple hoodie.

            “Yep,” Ray said cheerfully. They had picked him up in town. He waved them down and asked for a ride since the busses had stopped running.

            The man’s wife shifted nervously beside her husband. She eyed the dark woods nervously. The road had gone unpaved for a long time, pot holes and ditches tore up the road.

            “So, is it an old house?” The man said, focusing on the road, trying to dodge the deeper pot holes.

            “Yeah, doesn’t even have a drive way,” Ray said, looking out the window, “But I know exactly where to stop.”

            “D-do you like old houses?” the wife said, turning to look at Ray so she didn’t have to look outside at the daunting trees anymore.

            “Yeah, they’re really cool. I remodel them,” Ray said, smiling politely at the wife.

            “That’s impressive,” the husband said, glancing at Ray in the mirror again, “Takes a lot of work.”

            Ray shrugged and his eyes shifted toward the road. “Oh god!” he shouted, mouth falling open and feet slamming against the ground for an invisible break.

            The man’s eyes snapped back toward the road, a dark figure appearing in the edges of the headlights. He slammed on the breaks, throwing his wife forward, her seat belt saving her from sailing through the windshield.

            They stopped just short of the figure, the bumper centimeters from his legs. The husband looked up at the figure, eyes widening as he saw a blackened skull with skin hanging off of cracks. The creature raised a bloody axe that matched his bloodied and torn clothes.

            The wife screamed as the axe came down on the windshield. As the glass spiderwebed, the blade of the axe slightly in the car, the husband slammed his foot on the gas only for nothing to happen.

            “We’ve got to move!” Ray shouted, unbuckling and jumping out of the door. The husband and wife leapt out of the car after him the creature watching them run into the woods, axe still in the windshield.

            “Where’s your house?!” the husband shouted as he grabbed his wife’s hand and followed Ray through the forest and into a thick fog.

            “It’s too far!” Ray said, dodging trees, “There’s a town on the other side of the forest!”

            “Wait!” the husband said, squinting as Ray disappeared in the fog. He kept running, slamming face into the side of a dilapidated farm house that appeared out of nowhere.

            “What?” the wife said, looking up at the destroyed house in horror, “Where are we?”

            “I-I don’t know,” the husband said, tensing when he heard a heartbeat. He looked at his wife who was staring back in fear.

            They were frozen where they stood as the heartbeat got faster and harder. The husband looked behind them, eyes widening as the creature from the road slowly appeared in the mist. Yanking his wife after him, he raced around the house.

            He dived behind a pile of hay and peaked around to see if the monster was behind them. He didn’t see anything and the heartbeat steadily faded away.

            They stayed where they were until his wife insisted that they needed to find a way back to the road and their car. They walked in the direction they were fairly certain they came from until they found a wall and then they followed the wall. They found two unpowered doors but no escape, and no indication how they even got to this strange place to begin with.

            “What do we do?” the wife hissed, clinging to her husband’s hand as they hid in the brush next to one of the doors.

            “I don’t know,” he whispered, scowling at the door, “We need to power this door.”

            “I think I saw a few generators,” his wife said, pulling him toward a strange gathering of wooden walls in front of them.

            She kept an eye out as her husband got the generator started up. She jumped when the light above the generator turned on. Smiling at each other in relief, they walked over to the doors but found that there still wasn’t enough power.

            “Shit,” the husband cursed, scowling at the panel.

            They both heard church bells ring in the distance and tensed when the heartbeat started again. They shared terrified looks before rushing away from the door.

            They ran across another generator, jumping when they found Ray crouching behind the machine, hands deep inside. “There you are!” Ray said, smiling at them, “I was worried you got caught.”

            “No, we’re alright, so you know that we need power?” the husband said, working on the generator on the other side.

            “Yeah, figured that out when I saw the doors,” Ray said, picking up two wires.

            “Wait!” the husband said, but Ray had already tapped the two ends of the wires together, causing a small explosion. Soon after there was the sound of church bells.

            “Shit, run!” Ray said rushing past them and staying low. The husband and wife raced after him, the heartbeat rapid and pounding their temples. “Separate!”

            Ray ran to the left while the husband and wife went right. Once the heartbeat finally stopped, they found another generator and got it working.

            After three generators, they nearly ran completely into the monster who began chasing them with his axe. Ray appeared from now where, running past them. “This way!” he shouted, leading them through a corn field.

            The monster faded in the background as they followed Ray back to the farmhouse. They followed him up the stairs where they stayed down until the heartbeat finally stopped. The husband sighed in relief and slumped against the wall. Ray stood and hoped up onto of an old dresser, kicking his legs.

            “Shit’s scary man,” Ray panted, looking like he was about to smile.

            “How are we going to get out of here?” the wife said, clinging to her husband’s arm.

            “Oh, we’re probably not,” Ray said with a shrug. He smiled down at them as they looked up at him in horror.

            “How can you say that?” the wife gasped, holding her husband’s arm tighter.

            Ray shrugged, heel of his shoes hitting the dresser making a rhythmic thud almost like a heartbeat. “Ah, I donno. After the millionth time of doing this, I think I’d know what was going to happen.”

            The wife and husband stared at Ray in horror until they heard church bells nearly right on top of them. They scrambled to their feet. The monster appeared on the stairs, staring them down.

            They backed toward a gaping hole in the wall. The husband looked behind them at the tall drop. “Oh god,” he gasped.

            “Help us!” the wife shouted to Ray who stayed on top of the dresser.

            “Who? Me?” Ray said, smirking at the couple. He shrugged and shook his head. “Nah.”

            The monster strode past Ray, axe raised. The husband pushed his wife behind him as the axe came down. “Hello!” the creature said cheerfully as his axe sunk into the husband’s shoulder.

The wife screamed the entire time her husband and herself were wounded by the axe. She screamed as the creature dragged them down into the basement of the farm house to four hooks all connected to the same pole. Ray trailed after them, hands in his pockets.

            The creature hummed happily as he picked the husband up and impaled his shoulder on the hook. The wife whimpered and screamed as she was hooked next.

            Ray laughed lightly, leaning against the wall as the creature continued to hum. “You’re being fucking adorable, Rye,” he said.

            The husband scowled as the creatures head snapped toward Ray, head tilting almost like he was a puppy happy to be praised. Ray laughed and walked over to the creature, hooking his fingers under what was actually a mask. He lifted the bottom until the killer’s lips were visible.

            The wife sobbed as Ray kissed the monster killing them, their murderer happily kissing back, hands resting on Ray’s hips.

            The husband started to struggle, gasping when sharp spider-like legs appeared around him. Three legs slammed into his stomach before pulling his corpse off of the hook. The wife watched her husband disappear into the ceiling in horror. Ray and the monster parted in time to watch her be eaten.


End file.
